


Kindness costs nothing

by Flowsthroughwind



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Crazy tourists, Gen, Snowed In, They eat a ton of food, Where are they putting it all??, Winter rescue, paying it forward, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:15:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowsthroughwind/pseuds/Flowsthroughwind
Summary: Winter storm warning is in effect and Eliza spots a car heading into the ditch. Damn tourists.
Kudos: 10





	Kindness costs nothing

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired and this just kind of popped out.

The radio was blasting until the weather announcement interrupted. _“We bring you this extreme weather forecast update. Citizens are being urged to stay in their homes as an unprecedented storm front is moving through. Snow fall is expected to begin by 10 pm and continue on…”_

Eliza turned down the broadcast, she’d been hearing it for a good three hours and the snow out here had started over an hour ago. She’s just had enough time to pick up some things from town before heading back home but it wasn’t the snow that had her quieting the radio or what had her squinting as she rolled her window down. She’d spotted a faint pair of red tail lights that rapidly moved back and forth then dipped off to the left to what she knew was a partial ditch.

When she was close enough she saw it was just a four door sedan sighed, what was it with tourists that didn’t have the sense God gave geese in picking cars or knowing when to drive and when to stay home. She pulled her brake and leaned out, spotting the two figures easily enough. “Hey! You two still in one piece?”

“Yeah, just went a little too fast.”

“You got chains?”  
  


There was a pause and she could see from where she was that they were checking so she wasn’t terribly surprised when the negative answer came back. “We’ll be alright, thanks though.”

She almost… almost, pulled out but that damned helpful streak she’d gotten from her parents wouldn’t let her leave knowing they’d barely make it anywhere. She cut off the engine and got out, carrying a maglight and a tire iron. Kindness didn’t have to mean foolishness. “Where were you guys headed?”

The taller of the two turned and she got a good look at the strangers, now she just hoped they really were lost and helpless rather then a reason to use the iron she had. “We were taking the scenic route back to Vancouver.”

Both of her eyebrows went shooting up, “Scenic route? In winter? In that? You two won’t make it 20 miles before you’re buried. Or _worse_.” She looked up at the snow already knowing that she couldn’t just leave them. “I’ll help you get your car out then see about getting you two someplace to wait out the storm.”

“I thought it wasn’t supposed to get bad for a few more hours.” The other one spoke up now.

She smiled wryly, “That’s for city folk 50 miles from here, the storm hit us just over an hour ago.”

She turned back to her truck to fetch her cable tow, hooking it up to the car they managed to get it back out and on the road. “You better come with me, you won’t make it back to town, not that there’s anything open or available this time of night and your car without any kind of chains won’t make it to the next town or city.”

“I’m sure if we take our time and are more cautious we’ll make it fine.” The taller one was saying but Eliza was already shaking her head.

“I’ve lived out here all my life and I can promise you, you won’t make it and I don’t want two dead out-of-towners on my conscious when they find you. I don’t live far from here and once the snow settles I’ll get you back on the road.”

The taller one began to protest again but the other one cut him off, “Jared she’s probably right.” He was already shaking the keys in his hand, “Thank you for the help.”

“Eliza and don’t worry about it. I’ll leave the tow cable attached and we’ll coast to my driveway, just leave it in low and we’ll make it fine.”

“Thank you Eliza.” Jared gave her a tired smile and she nodded, heading already to her truck.

Once the two men were in she began the slow mile crawl till she saw her road and turned into it. She drove a lot more careful then she normally would have with the car behind her, the last thing she wanted to do was have to fish them out again. It had been a long day already and all she wanted was hot food and bed. They pulled up to her little house and she pulled both truck and car into the long carport next to the house.

She got out, going to unlock the side door,“Go on in, I gotta grab my bags.” She called out to them as she grabbed grocery bags and began to carry them in.

They followed her in then both went out and helped her carry the last few bags in. When they began to help her unload she chuckled, “Don’t worry about that, just shuck your boots and I’ll show you to some beds and the shower.” She didn’t have two guest rooms so she’d already figured on the couch for herself. She reached into the first room and flicked on the light, “One of you can bunk in here and whoever doesn’t want this one can take my room.”

“Wait, where will you sleep?” Jared protested.

“I got a hideaway in the couch, I’ll be fine.”

“I am not chasing you out of your bed.” The other one stated firmly making her smile.

“Don’t stress it, the couch isn’t as big as the beds and I have early morning chores. Besides, this was **my** rescue so let me finish my rescue and make you guys comfortable.” She didn’t give them a chance to answer, just went into her room, scooped out a few things she knew she’d need and went to lay them on the couch. “Now I’m going to go check on the animals then I’ll make dinner if you’re hungry. Bathroom is the next door and towels are just behind the door inside.”

She turned and headed out the same door she’d come in and grabbed a rope, taking it with her to tie to the small barn where her few animals were huddled inside. “Hey kids, lets get you hunkered down, it’s gonna be a bitch of a storm tonight.”

\----------

“I can’t just take her room.” Jensen sighed, he’d seen the couch and she’d been right, it wouldn’t be big enough for him and definitely not big enough for Jared but he didn’t like the idea of putting someone out of their own room in their home.

“She sounded pretty determined to be the one to sleep on the couch.” Jared said from the other room.

“Yeah I know but it just doesn’t feel right.”

“Guess you’ll have to share.” Jared laughed.

“Not with you, smart ass.” Jensen shot back.

They heard the door open then close followed by faint sounds from the kitchen. Jensen had already showered quickly and Jared was just ducking in when she appeared in the hallway again.

“I’m making stew and biscuits, it isn’t much but it’ll be warm if you guys are hungry.”

“Thank you, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Jensen’s brow furrowed as he internally debated the sleeping arrangements. “I really don’t like putting you out.”

“It isn’t ‘ _putting me out’_ if I’m the one that made the offer.” She kept moving going to a wooden box next to the fireplace and began to build a nice one that would warm most of the house. It wasn’t a big house, just a single story with a few rooms but it was hers and she loved it. Kitchen, bathroom, den, small breakfast nook and two bedrooms. There was a mud room she’d finished off and two outbuildings… heck it was a dream home even if it wasn’t very large. And it had a great fireplace in the front, plus the wood burning stove in the kitchen. Once she had both going and stocked for the night the house would be cozy.

She got up and laid her small hand on his shoulder, well his arm since he was much a lot taller than she was. “I don’t sleep well so it’ll be easier for me if you two are in the bedrooms because then my wanderings won’t disturb you, so humor me and take the bed. Please?”

Without waiting for an answer, she simply assumed he’d agree, she went back to the kitchen to finish bringing in wood for the box and a little extra that didn’t fit in the outside wood box.

Dinner was ready quickly and eaten even faster, Eliza was glad she’d had the foresight to make a larger pot then usual because they ate every last bite. Her two guests argued about dishes and she surrendered, showing them where the soap was. “Fine, just leave them in the drainer and we’ll call it square.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jensen blinked slowly as he laid there trying to process what it was that had woken him up, then the windows rattled and the last night came flooding back in. He sat up, knuckling his eyes and got up to look out the window but he couldn’t see anything but white. Quickly he got dressed and stepped out, hearing humming and the sounds of breakfast being cooked.

“Good morning.” Eliza smiled at her guest, “How’d you sleep?”

“Solid… I don’t think I heard anything once my head hit the pillow.”

Her smile widened just a little as she nodded and dropped another egg into a small pail she was whisking. “Hope you guys like your eggs scrambled, it’s a habit at this point and I did it all without thinking.”

“Scrambled is fine.” He looked out the window of the door.

“I wouldn’t.”

Jensen looked back at where she was standing by the stove. “I’m sorry?”

“I wouldn’t open that door; it just about stole my breath this morning when I went out.” She sighed, looking apologetic. “You guys won’t be leaving this morning I’m afraid, everything’s buried out there. This is way more then snow then we were figuring on showing up last night.”

“Damn… so we’re stuck?”

She nodded, “I’m sorry. I know this is probably a huge inconvenience to you guys but there’s absolutely no way that you’d make it to the road from here, let alone back out to a highway. Phone lines still work if you guys need to call family or people to let them know where you are.”

“I was going to apologize for the inconvenience of having us dropped here in your lap like this. Especially Jared, dude eats a ton.”

She chuckled at that, “I think I can handle his hollow legs… yours too. Why don’t you wake him up, breakfast will be ready soon.

He took the mug of coffee she’d handed him and headed back down the hall, sipping thoughtfully then taking another big drink. She made good coffee. He knocked on the door and gave it a push open, “Dude... breakfast.”

“What time is it?” Jared said, still buried under the covers. He turned over and sat up, yawning widely.

“Just after 8.”

“In the morning?”

Jensen rolled his eyes and took another drink of his coffee. Jared would roll out of bed and not be a bit bothered if they started without him. “You don’t shake a leg I’ma eat all the bacon.”

He heard him getting up now and smirked to himself as he went back into the kitchen in time to take a platter from Eliza’s hands and set it on the table.

“Thanks, breakfast is ready. She went back to the counter to clean some of her mess up when Jared walked into the room, “Morning.”

“Yeah, morning. Sorry.” He yawned then grinned as she handed him a cup of coffee and gestured to the table.

“Sit and eat.”

Jared was dishing up his plate when he realized she wasn’t sitting with them, “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Oh I already ate my breakfast after chores this morning. Go ahead, eat up guys. I’m going to go fix up the fire in the front room.”

“Need a hand?” Jensen asked through a mouthful of food.

“Eat, I got this.” She went out and made up the fire to get the rooms warmed up, she had a furnace but when it was this stormy it wasn’t usually enough to keep everything warm. Usually she just made a bed on the couch close to the fire and stayed there but with guests, she was doing mental gymnastics to make sure they were well taken care of as well. She eyed the box and knew she’d need more wood so a trip to the shed would be this morning before she’d settle inside to see if she could figure out just how long this storm was supposed to last.

\-------

The guys had offered to cut wood for her, insisted in fact so she mixed up what she’d need for dinner into the crock pot then moved onto securing the windows in all of the rooms making sure they were sealed shut. She hung blankets she’d made into the window to block out more of the cold then hung one more over the front door.

The back door opened the shut and she headed to the kitchen surprised to see both men bring in several armloads of wood, a much bigger armloads then she could carry in at once. “Wow, thanks guys. Just put it by the fireplace, we should be good.”

“We spilt all of it for you so you didn’t have to later.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“It’s the least we could do since we’re eating up all your food.”

“Better you eat up my food then get caught out there in that storm.” She shrugged, a little uncomfortable with the attention. She helped out when she could because it was the right thing to do; it was how she’d been raised. Kindness cost nothing, that’s what her mom always said. “Why don’t you guys thaw out by the fire.”

“What are you going to be doing?” Jared asked loudly while they stacked wood.

She looked around, a little thrown off rhythm by having them there. “Probably do some of the little things around the house that I’ve been putting off till it’s time to feed the animals.”

“So we’ll help you with that.” Jensen said. “Just tell us what needs doing.”

She tried to dissuade them but they wouldn’t be put off so she gave in to them. There wasn’t a lot to do but she hated doing repairs. One of the sinks leaked some, she still had a couple of wall lamps she’d been meaning to put up sitting around in their boxes, the towel rod had pulled out of the wall and she needed to get it put back in and the hole fixed and the back door stuck in the doorway.

The two men worked together getting one thing after another done leaving her with the hated bill paying but she had that done way before lunch. Any other chores she’d end up doing weren’t ones she could get done in this weather so she was left at rare loose ends.

The guys were finishing the patch in the bathroom when she called for lunch, she’d even gotten a pie into the oven. Lunch was simple sandwiches with potato salad but they ate all of it.

\--

It took two more days before the winds stopped blowing and the sun began to peek out from behind thick clouds.

Her house guests has split time with talking, playing games, calling their families, reading and helping her with any work she started on. Eliza looked at the pantry and smiled wryly, she’d enjoyed the company but it would be a lot less food now that they were going to be able to get back on the road.

They were loading up their bags when she pulled out the bag of little she kept for emergencies. “Here, put this in the back seat. It’ll help you with traction until you get to the next town and buy yourselves a set of chains or get a rental car that has a set in them.”

Jared laughed and hugged her, “Thank you for everything. We really appreciate all you did.”

She shook her head but smiled, “I’m just glad I was able to help out.”

Jensen squeezed at the end of his hug. “Not everyone would go out of their way to help strangers.”

“Just be sure that you call me to let me know you made it safely and that can be how you thank me.

“Promise.”

Eliza waved them off then headed inside to her phone. She continued to look out the window, “Hey Brian it’s Eliza. Yeah, I’m alright here. Weathered it just fine. Nah… Hey. I had to rescue a pair of tourists and sent them your way. I know, I know but they’re pretty decent guys. Hook them up so I don’t have to worry and let me know if they aren’t there by dark. Thanks, you’re the best.”

She pocketed her cell and sighed, “Well, at least now all I need to do is laundry then back to town tomorrow for some extra food.”

She got her call that night.

\--

“So who were they?”

Eliza shrugged as she began to flip through her mail. “No idea Meg but they made it out of town and hopefully made it home alright.”

“Well you done a nice thing. Were they cute at least?” Meg grinned.

Eliza laughed, “Yeah a little but—Son of a bitch!”

“Bad news?”

“Those bastards sent me money.” She looked at the names again, "And no, I have no idea who they are."


End file.
